Adding Sims 3 to a 2017 MacBook Pro

Thanks, @igazor!

@BluebellFlora Thanks for the downloading, partitioning and touchpad tips. It is amazing all the work you put into your blog and postings.

"StephJ82;c-16406584" wrote:
I am really frustrated I have a mac book pro with MacOS High Sierra version 10.13.3 and I have tried Sims 3 everywhere (Origin, MacGameStore and from CD's) and nothing seems to work. Can someone please help me

Hi there. First of all, forget trying to do an install or play by way of discs or the MacGameStore. The discs will refuse to authenticate on any Mac OS from El Capitan forward and the game store's version specifically says that it is not compatible with Sierra or High Sierra (probably for similar reasons). Origin is the only method that works, when it does work.

The base game only should install that way as long as you don't have remnants of a prior install in place. Some of the EPs will be problematic and require extra steps to get through.
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed

Depending on the specs of your Macbook Pro though, the experience you are chasing down might not be a very good one. TS3 for Mac is a crippled version of its Windows sibling and once it actually is installed, can only use 2 GB of RAM no matter how much the player has installed. And some Macs have totally unsupportable processor/graphics card combos that put up more barriers where some players can never even get their games started up. If your system can withstand it and if you can stand having two systems to manage, bootcamping Windows and running the Windows version of the game instead might be a better option. Or finding a different computer to play it on.

What are the specs of your Mac -- model name/year, processor, RAM, graphics card from About This Mac off the Apple menu?

Hi there. Couple of things worth pointing out.

On current versions of the Mac OS, that would be El Capitan, Sierra, and now High Sierra, the TS3 discs refuse to authenticate. Installing by way of Origin for Mac is the only way. You will also have trouble with a few of the EP/SPs if you have the affected ones as they require some extra steps to get installed properly.
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed

As for how well the game runs, part of that is going to depend on which model MacBook Pro you have (processor, graphics card, RAM). But we're still talking about TS3 for Mac here, with its inherent built in 2 GB RAM usage restriction no matter what kind of hardware or how much total RAM you have. Purging RAM constantly throughout play in an effort to keep the game under that level of usage is still required and, for many players depending on their play style, the EPs and mods they may want to have in use, how far progressed their games become, etc., it can become anywhere from frustrating to futile to work with. If Bootcamping on either Mac is an option, again depending on the hardware we are talking about, the Windows version of the game that ever since Patch 1.17 has not had the 2 GB RAM usage restriction will for many be a much more satisfying experience.

Thank you, @igazor. That answers a number of questions. And thank you for the link. Too bad I don't have a gaming PC. If I should ever be lucky enough to find an affordable one, can I install my Sims 3 discs manually on there, totally bypassing Origin, or will I have to remove them from the Mac first?

Discs have always allowed for up to five installs on different machines so no removal necessary. If you have hybrid Mac/PC install discs (both logos on them) and the base game disc in particular was manufactured before Sept. 2012, then you could do a TS3 for Windows install without Origin and stay on Patch 1.67. If your base game disc is newer than that, then Origin becomes involved with no choices given and on Windows you will land on Patch 1.69 thus requiring the game to start up by way of Origin and its Launcher hand-off.

Regardless, with Origin you can install as many times as you want but only one Internet connected computer can play the game at a time.

If your discs are Mac only (I'm not even sure if or how many of them were released that way), then if registered you can still install TS3 for Windows but only by way of Origin.

You don't need a super deluxe gaming PC for TS3 but there are some basic requirements. I've been playing the Windows version on my Bootcamped iMac for years -- but am fortunate that it has a strong enough processor and a dedicated AMD Radeon video card to handle the game.

@Annikaperi Hardly any Macs produced since 2013 are actually compatible with the game as they all have unsupported graphics cards. If you have the 15" with AMD GPU then you may be ok as that still seems to behave properly but otherwise you will most probably need to edit the .sgr files.

Why is installing Origin not an option? What errors were you getting?

Aaack! Just woke up in my parking space with the car still running, after eating a big Italian meal, to find the desk clerk of the hotel and one of the guests peering into my car to see if I was okay. Pulled a couple of almost allnighters this week, and I have a 10:00 meeting in the morning! And now that I am back in my room catching up on some correspondence, I just lost four paragraphs because I accidentally swiped backwards. Teach me not to save on a word document first!

@Bluebellflora, I just wanted to get an overview of what one does, depending on the operating system. I have been reading various posts until I was confused. I realize that most people who are wary of Origin have PCs, but I did not know what the new Origin for Mac does — I guess it is necessary for the new Macs — and I am eventually going to want to have alternatives in place in order to preserve my game. I am definitely going to have to save the Superpatch to disc.

I am also trying to decide if I want to put any more money into the old MacBook in order to keep it running. I guess I was right to be concerned about upgrading past Mavericks, but eventually my computer just could not keep up. At least now I am on the current operating system (well sort of — I’ll have to see about High Sierra now), but I am a bit behind the curve. Before that, I was afraid to upgrade past Snow Leopard until I knew Pets would work. I guess those are very bad practices.

I have not been able to try the game yet on the new computer because I have to locate the rest of my discs in the storage shed after moving. I guess some people have been needing the discs even to download from Origin, although I will definitely need your fix for some of the EPs.

I have been wary of Bootcamping my Mac. I know everyone does it, but no one in my family has done this, and no one at Apple will tell me that yes, it is 100% safe. I do have one friend that says yes, it does seem like something we should not do (put Windows operating system on our Mac), but has done it for the same reason — he has a favorite game.

Loving the new MacBook Pro, although the new keyboard is taking some getting used to — very light touch, no satisfying click on the trackpad, and I keep hitting the touchpad by mistake. (Kind of like on my iPhone 6 where I keep triggering the “How can I help you?” by mistake.) I am going to have to figure out why it doesn’t like my fingerprint, though.

"Annikaperi;c-16170464" wrote:
I have not been able to try the game yet on the new computer because I have to locate the rest of my discs in the storage shed after moving. I guess some people have been needing the discs even to download from Origin, although I will definitely need your fix for some of the EPs.

You don't need any discs to download from Origin but you do need the product codes. If you already have the games installed on a Mac you can find the codes using Terminal.

"Annikaperi;c-16170464" wrote:
I have been wary of Bootcamping my Mac. I know everyone does it, but no one in my family has done this, and no one at Apple will tell me that yes, it is 100% safe. I do have one friend that says yes, it does seem like something we should not do (put Windows operating system on our Mac), but has done it for the same reason — he has a favorite game.

I have boot camped more Macs than I can remember and never had an issue. I've also removed the partitions and repartitioned hundreds of times and it's been fine. You should ALWAYS back up your Mac though, or any computer for that matter, if you are partitioning the drive. Of course a drive can always become corrupted but you don't need Boot Camp/Windows for that to happen. When your Mac has partitioned and boots up in Windows for the first time to finish the install you will have to reformat the partition again because the format is incorrect. This is normal and easy to do. Of course no one at Apple will tell you it is 100% safe because you are installing a 3rd party product on your Mac, they will say the same about any software that isn't from Apple :)

"Annikaperi;c-16170464" wrote:
Loving the new MacBook Pro, although the new keyboard is taking some getting used to — very light touch, no satisfying click on the trackpad, and I keep hitting the touchpad by mistake.

I've turned off haptic feedback and force click in System Preferences as I hate it! I love the new keyboard but yes, it does take a bit of getting used to.

"Annikaperi;c-16170464" wrote:
I have been wary of Bootcamping my Mac. I know everyone does it, but no one in my family has done this, and no one at Apple will tell me that yes, it is 100% safe. I do have one friend that says yes, it does seem like something we should not do (put Windows operating system on our Mac), but...

Just some unasked for advice here coming from the IT arena (when I'm not fussing around with sims, mods, and helping players with them). I think you might want to consider finding some new friends. :p

Apple started putting Intel chips (processors) in Macs back in 2006. Unlike emulation systems like Parallels and VMware, which still have their uses although not really for gaming, Bootcamping arranges it so that your computer starts up natively in one operating system or the other. Once you get into the Windows side, it's almost exactly the same (plus or minus a device driver or keyboard mapping here and there) as running Windows on any other computer with an Intel processor -- just as pleasant or unpleasant to use, and just as safe or unsafe with respect to security, need for anti-virus and protection from malware, etc. as any other.

Don't get me wrong, I have to manage PCs and servers running various versions of Windows all day long and I don't like the operating system. It's not like I'm all happy upon booting my Mac up into Windows to see the Windows "Welcome..." message. But that's part of the sacrifice some of us make to keep our TS3 games going the way in which we want them to. :)